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Advice book

Skin Disorders

Severe Eczema

Date of Advice:
Date Posted:

Rinpoche advised these pujas and practices for a student who had severe eczema that would not heal or respond to traditional treatment, despite doctors trying to manage the condition for the past ten years. The student was bedridden for weeks at a time, suffering from painful inflammation of their entire body.

My most dear, most precious, most kind, wish-fulfilling one,

According to my observation, I will recite the Diamond Cutter Sutra for you twice. I generally do this with the aim of trying to generate bodhicitta. I do it for all sentient beings, those who I saw, who rely on me, whose name is given to me, those who need the Diamond Cutter Sutra.

If you are able to come to Nepal, there’s a lake and there’s a naga statue lying down. Maybe it’s naturally arisen, but I don’t know the story. Many people have had that disease, for example, my uncle had that disease. He scratched all over his body, even blood was coming, like that, so he was taken care of by my brother’s wife and another relative, a lady. He’s a monk and they had to wash his body and put medicine on [his skin], so he felt very shy having a naked body.

So he went to that lake and did a puja, Lü tor (Tib: ཀླུ་གཏོར), giving food to the nagas. There’s a puja for the nagas, giving food and giving Dharma teachings to the nagas, and then they help. So he offered Lü tor, for how long, maybe six months, I’m not sure. Two girls took care of him. Also another thing is Indian medicine. Pujas and Indian medicine. Anyway, he recovered and went back to the mountains.

He’s there [at Lawudo] where there’s my past life’s cave, a rock cave that Padmasambhava came into. I don’t remember, but many high lamas said that it’s my past life place. He lives there now, and he got better; he completely got better. So this is what I want to tell you about.

There’s no cure in the Western hospitals, no cure at all. The Chinese sometimes have a cure. One lady had this disease and a Chinese doctor in England helped. She recovered, but it came back after one year.

I did the puja for one rich Indian family in Hong Kong. The lady had that disease and at the airport I did the puja, but I never heard back. I didn’t get any reply back to say if it helped her.

There was also a Tibet lama, a geshe, who was sick for a long time, a long, long time, for many years. Whenever he went to India he got better and when he went back to Holland he got worse. It was always like that, strange. He did a lot of retreat and pujas for many years, then he met one black man and he recovered. So it’s a very interesting story.

These [conditions] are caused by nagas, so there are naga pujas. There’s a puja for you called Liberating from the Harm of the Nagas and Landlord. The landlord is not a human being, but rather the owner of the land, so you definitely need that puja.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche's calligraphy: Liberating from the Harm of Nagas and Landlord, Oct. 2021.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche's calligraphy: Liberating from the Harm of Nagas and Landlord, Oct. 2021.

This is the name of the puja in Tibetan. [See image for Tibetan script]

Depending on where you are, there are lamas in some of the countries where we have centers, so maybe they can help. Otherwise you have to come to India and Nepal for the puja to be done. Maybe if you’re in Nepal my brother’s wife could help, just as they helped my uncle.

Generally, there’s a practice, not only for healing, it is for disease, for all the suffering of disease. There are many different sufferings—oceans of suffering of the hells, oceans of suffering of the hungry ghosts, oceans of suffering of the animals, oceans of suffering of the humans, oceans of suffering of the suras and oceans of suffering of the asura realms—not only disease. It all came from delusion and karma, so we need to purify the cause, delusion and karma.

Reciting the Compassionate Buddha’s mantra, OM MANI PADME HUM, is incredible. It has limitless skies of benefit, unbelievable, so we are fortunate to recite that.

It is said in the Eleven-face Compassionate Buddha’s text that if we recite OM MANI PADME HUM one time, it has the power to purify having killed. For example, a fully ordained monk who has broken the four root vows of killing a human being, stealing valuable things belonging to others, sexual misconduct and lying that we have realizations while we don’t have that—these get completely purified. By reciting OM MANI PADME HUM one time the karma is completely purified.

Then by reciting the mantra seven times, one hundred eons of negative karma get purified. Reciting it twenty-one times, one thousand eons get purified and by reciting one mala—108 mantras—forty thousand eons of negative karma get purified. It’s unbelievable.

Even without bodhicitta motivation—[wishing] to achieve enlightenment in order to liberate the numberless sentient beings from the oceans of suffering and bring them to enlightenment—even without that, by reciting OM MANI PADME HUM, we collect merit more than the drops of water in the ocean, more than the number of blades of grass that grow in the universe, on the mountains and the ground, and more than the number of sand grains of the Pacific Ocean. It’s amazing, amazing, unbelievable, great purification. It purifies negative karma from where all the suffering, all the problems, arise, like that, and we collect unbelievable merit.

In particular, to generate compassion, to develop compassion through the mantra, that’s its special, particular quality. If we generate compassion, then we’re able to generate enlightenment quickly, to achieve the total cessation of the obscurations and the completion of realizations. Sublime compassion, if we generate that for one sentient being or numberless sentient beings.

The quicker we’re able to achieve enlightenment, full enlightenment, then we’re able to free the numberless sentient beings from the oceans of samsaric suffering and bring them to enlightenment as quickly as possible. It’s most amazing.

So, if you want to listen to my advice, you must recite this mantra, OM MANI PADME HUM. I am also attaching a photo; you can print it nicely and frame it.

Then there’s Medicine Buddha. It is so powerful for success, to pray for success, as the time gets more and more degenerated. From the sutra [point of view], it becomes more and more powerful. From the point of view of tantra, then Heruka becomes more and more powerful, so like that. It’s unbelievably powerful to recite the names of the seven Medicine Buddhas and to recite the mantra.

Thank you very much, thank you so much.

I do have mantra water that dripped from the cave of Padmasambhava where he, the powerful enlightened being, achieved immortality, achieved buddhahood, achieved Buddha Amitayus, the infinite light Buddha. [This cave is] in Nepal, and we are building a three-story Padmasambhava statue there. We’ve started this. [Read more here about Maratika and Rinpoche’s vision for the statue.]

So with this water, little by little, you can put it on your skin.

With much love and prayers ...

Practice to Heal Eczema

Date of Advice:
Date Posted:

A student’s daughter had very bad eczema that would not heal. Rinpoche recommended Most Secret Hayagriva and explained how to do the meditation.

The meditation she should do is this:

First, generate motivation for doing the practice, that she is doing this for the benefit of all beings. Then, think Most Secret Hayagriva is paying attention to her with a lot of compassion for her and for all sentient beings.

Most Secret Hayagriva sends light that goes to her and also to all beings, like a dark room that is lit up. The light dispels all the sickness, disease and spirit harm, and also all the negative karma and defilements, where these things come from.

Then, as much as she can, she should recite the mantra:

HRIH VAJRA KRODHA HAYAGRIVA HULU HULU HUM PHAT

At the end, she can think she is totally purified, then the deity absorbs into her and she receives all the qualities, and also the same for all sentient beings.

Then dedicate, according to how I dedicate, just one or two [dedications] or whatever she wishes.

Facial Erosions

Date of Advice:
Date Posted:

A student wrote about erosions on their face which had become worse over the past few months. There was stinging pain and daily blisters due to the condition.

Dear one,

Rinpoche checked and said: 

  • You need to receive a long-life initiation.
  • Prajnaparamita: To be read five times by the monks at Ganden Shartse.
  • Prayer to Padmasambhava to Clear Away Obstacles: You need to read this prayer at least five times.  
  • Long-life tsa tsas: Ask for them to be made at a place where they do good quality tsa tsas.

Precious Pills and Erma for Skin Condition

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Rinpoche gave this advice to a student who had severe blisters and itchy skin.

My most dear, most kind, most precious, wish-fulfilling one,
You should take two of the Tibetan precious pill rinchen mangjor. Have one pill first and then after two days’ break take the next pill. Take them in the morning.

If you can get erma (a herb from Solu Khumbu—if you know someone at Kopan they can send it to you), put some erma in a cup of hot water before sleeping. Add warm water when you wake up and drink the water after making it hot. Then take the precious pill after that.

When you take the precious pill, don’t expose it to the light, so you open the cloth that is around the pill and pop it in your mouth before it sees the light. Taking erma first helps to open your veins so the precious pill can go through and it becomes more effective.

With much love and prayers ...

Severe Eczema

Date of Advice:
Date Posted:

A student wrote about severe eczema which hadn’t healed and was spreading on their neck and face. The student was experiencing continual skin irritation, was unable to sleep properly, and was feeling a little depressed as a result of the condition.

My most dear, most kind, most precious wish-fulfilling one,
I checked and you need these pujas that are liberating from naga and landlord harm. Do the pujas in this order:

  1. Che trül
  2. Ga gön: four times
  3. Don trol

Recite su chen mantra 130 times.

Please make your life most meaningful with the thought of bodhicitta day and night and in everything you do. Please also do the morning motivation, The Method to Transform a Suffering Life into Happiness (Including Enlightenment).

With much love and prayers ...

Remedy for Pruritus (Itchy Skin)

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Rinpoche wanted to share this advice on how to help severe itching.

What to do if you have severe itching:

  • Ga gön puja
  • Recite mantras on Vaseline

[Note: After doing this, the condition never came back.]